America: My Time

Chapter 463 Calculation
Chapter 463 Schemes

“Mr. Morita, this is nothing. In fact, even if I didn’t say anything, you would have quickly figured it all out. Now you really need to make changes. In the memory chip market, Japan holds an 80% share, which is astonishing. You must make changes and be prepared. Also, in the North American car market, you hold a quarter of the market share, which makes many people envious. Not all car companies are as indifferent as Bentley!”

Indeed, Bentley Motors doesn't seem to care much about the North American market these days. Their Mexican factory has limited production capacity and can't keep up with sales, so they don't prioritize North American market share. Moreover, Bentley's biggest profits still come from Middle Eastern tycoons, and they focus their main efforts on them rather than the North American and European markets. Of course, Japan is no exception; Bentley has invested heavily in the Japanese market and is reaping huge profits.

If we had to pinpoint any changes Bentley has made in the North American and European markets, it would be in the sale of auto parts. With its significant investments in China, Bentley has captured a substantial share of the auto parts market in both North America and the UK, leading many car companies to believe that Bentley is shifting its focus towards auto parts sales.

No pain, no gain. Bentley has been tapping into its potential, making significant efforts in sales and achieving substantial profits. It's also aggressively developing its parts manufacturing and sales, with Dunlop tires becoming a Bentley subsidiary. This has led many to question the future of Bentley, given its negligible market share in North America, while its parts business is booming.

These guys didn't see how popular Bentley was among the wealthy Middle Easterners, or how amazing its sales were in Japan. They only saw that Bentley wasn't focusing on car manufacturing, but rather on car rentals and the used car market—developments that had little to do with the car company itself.

At this moment, Akio Morita gently shook his head and said, "No, it is precisely because of your reminder that I understand how dangerous the situation is, and how perilous the situation Sony is facing! However, John, it seems that your real estate investments in Japan have stopped. Do you have some concerns?"

When he saw Akio Morita change the subject, John smiled calmly and said, "I am indeed a little worried. The real estate value in Japan is appreciating too fast these days, so fast that I can hardly understand it. The price changes almost every month. This crazy increase is beyond my imagination. So I have to give up investing in this area and only invest in personal real estate. At least if there are problems, the loss to myself will not be too great."

“John, you’re overthinking it. Japan is different from the United States. The environment in Japan causes real estate to appreciate. In big cities like New York, real estate will not fall, it will only continue to rise, so you don’t need to worry about it at all.”

"No, I'd better hold off for now. Investing in real estate is too costly these days, and it also carries certain risks. Most importantly, some people already have a lot of opinions about me. If I increase my investment in Japanese real estate, it will cause some people to feel uneasy, or even resist. I don't want to have any conflict with him."

"Yoshiaki Tsutsumi's Seibu Group? Actually, you don't need to care at all. The First Bank won't clash with you because of him!" Akio Morita quickly understood who John was referring to. The Seibu Group is currently the largest real estate holder in Japan and is constantly accumulating land. However, the strength of the Seibu Group cannot be compared with John's, and the First Bank won't clash with John because of the Seibu Group. Therefore, in Akio Morita's opinion, John is overthinking things.

"I always seek win-win situations in business and don't want to make enemies. Moreover, the current situation in Japan makes me a little uneasy, so letting go for the time being is a good choice. After all, Mandarin Oriental won't put all its energy into Japan now. As a multinational company, it's very dangerous to put all investments together. Taiwan is also a good place to invest, and there are no such problems there."

John was absolutely right. His investments in Taiwan were going smoothly, and Taiwan was also looking forward to John's investments. ASUS alone brought huge benefits to Taiwan, as did investments in oil refineries and other areas, which made Taiwan very happy. In comparison, it was only natural that Cultural Oriental chose to invest in Taiwan.

This applies not only to Taiwan, but also to the entire Southeast Asia, and even the whole of Asia. The Mandarin Oriental Group will not face much resistance. Since there is resistance or even danger in Japan, the Mandarin Oriental Group can choose to invest in other countries, such as Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand, or even South Korea.

Upon hearing these words, Akio Morita sighed softly. The Mandarin Oriental Group of today is no longer the hotel it once was. It has now developed into a large multinational corporation with enormous assets. At this point, the Mandarin Oriental Group naturally does not need to put all its investments in Japan, nor does it need to compete for market share in Japan.

As for John's continued investment in personal real estate, Akio Morita viewed it as mere dabbling, of little value, and simply a personal hobby. After all, Morita was well aware of John's frenzied acquisition of castles and estates in Europe, so such investments could only be part of a personal interest. Moreover, he knew John had considerable assets in Kyoto. However, Morita forgot one thing: John's private properties throughout Japan were all properties purchased long ago, currently only undergoing renovations. Since the Plaza Accord, John had not made any new investments; he had only been building on existing properties.

So many properties were actually acquired through Mitsui Fudosan, but at the time no one paid attention to it or took John's investment in this area seriously. No one really understood how amazing John's private real estate holdings in Japan were. Only Hitomi Kuroki, who was in charge of John's investments, knew how amazing John's personal real estate holdings were now. Various private properties were scattered throughout Japan, with the most properties in Tokyo!
The conversation with Akio Morita was brief, as Morita had come with a mission. After confirming John's thoughts and decisions, Morita left. Time was of the essence, and he needed to act quickly in this situation.

“He refused. I’ve said it before, your idea is doomed to fail. He was the one who first came up with this idea, so how could he not understand the underlying issues? Moreover, the feud between Toshiba and him hasn’t disappeared over time. Toshiba has never offered a sincere apology!” As he spoke, Akio Morita shook his head slightly, unimpressed by the Mitsui Group’s arrangements.

"So what did he say we should do to get out of this crisis?"

"As always, the best option for investing in and building factories overseas is to locate the manufacturing plants in the United States. However, this is simply impossible. If we do that, Toshiba itself will suffer unbearable losses. I believe everyone here knows what American workers are like. Even American companies have run away. We certainly cannot fall into that trap."

Upon hearing Akio Morita's words, the members of the Mitsui Group couldn't help but sigh. It was precisely because they sensed danger that they had sat down together and made this discussion. However, it now seemed that things were not developing as they had planned, and the situation remained extremely perilous.

"What did he say about publicity? Will Legendary Entertainment and Phoenix Group start excluding us from publicity at this time and deny us a channel to speak out? If so, the situation will be even more dangerous."

"No, John is still very humane. He is powerless in the field of memory chips and semiconductors because he cannot change the decisions of Intel and its American counterparts. Moreover, Nvidia itself has its own problems and cannot provide us with assistance. However, there is no problem in terms of publicity. As long as you are willing, you can leverage the power of Legendary Entertainment and Phoenix Group."

"That's good. As long as the propaganda is fine, we still have a chance. Things haven't gotten out of control yet. At least the Americans aren't trying to push things too far!" At this point, these guys still have such ridiculous ideas. They're really too naive. Perhaps this is related to their trade with the United States. Although the Americans have been talking about the trade deficit, they haven't restricted trade with Japan. They've only adjusted the exchange rate.

Despite the depreciation of the US dollar, the trade deficit between the US and Japan has not changed. Although Japan's exports have been affected by the appreciation of the yen, the overall economy is still developing rapidly. Therefore, these guys still think they have a chance. They underestimate how terrible the US reaction is.

"I think we still need to be careful. We are all under a lot of pressure right now, and a slight mistake could cost us dearly. I don't know what Toshiba has prepared, but Sony itself is facing a lot of pressure, especially with Columbia Pictures constantly losing money. So I think everyone should be cautious!"

"That makes sense. Making more preparations at this time is also a responsible thing to do!"

"There is one more thing I need to tell everyone. Yoshiaki Tsutsumi of Seibu has stood on the opposite side of John because of real estate. Now, the Cultural Oriental Group and other companies under John have stopped investing in Japanese real estate. Everyone should be aware of this."

(End of this chapter)